Izzy stood awkwardly in front of an armchair in the lobby of the hotel that Megan said Brian was supposed to be at.  She watched Megan as she chatted with the desk attendant as she tried to get the room number Brian was staying in.  The girls were shocked to see how many fans were still hanging around the hotel hoping to get a glance.  Izzy didn’t understand why they were staying in a hotel if they also had tour buses to stay on, seemed almost like a waste.

Izzy sighed when Megan turned around and looked dreadful.  She didn’t get the room number, now they would have to knock on every door and try to find him before they were kicked out by the hotel staff.

Megan was two steps away from the desk when her face broke into a huge grin and her pace quickened as she came over.  “I got it.” She did a little dance as she spoke.

“How did you manage?” Izzy started to ask and then held her hand up when her friend’s grin got wider and her cheeks started to get pink.  “Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.” She laughed as they headed towards the elevator.

They went up to the fourth floor and found room 438.  Both girls stood outside the door unsure what to do next. 

“Well, I guess I should knock,” Izzy spoke up.

“It would help if you want to talk to him.” Megan rolled her eyes and stood off to the side of the door and motioned her friend on.

Izzy held her hand up and took a deep breath, knocking.  She could hear footsteps behind the door and then a pause. She was sure the occupant of the room was looking at her through the peephole. She hoped that he wouldn’t call security but would open the door to find out who she was and what she wanted.   Izzy had never approached anyone like this before, well, that she could remember. 

She was about to turn and leave when the door opened suddenly, startling her.

“Isabelle?”  Brian stood in the doorway staring at her.

Izzy smiled at him and nodded.  Relief washed over her, if he knew her name he had to have the answers she was looking for.  Feeling more confident she stepped closer.  “Yes.  Brian, I think you and I have a lot to discuss.” 

Brian quickly stepped into the hall and looked around.   “Who…”

“That’s my friend Megan, she can be trusted.” Izzy put her hand on Brian’s arm.  His skin was warm to her touch, her fingertips tingled from contact.

Brian looked down at her fingers and then back up to her face.  He felt at ease having her so close, somehow he knew things would get better now that she was around.  He nodded and opened the door wide enough for both girls to enter.

Izzy decided it would be best if she just ripped the band-aid off, no point in beating about the bush.  “Have you been chased, attacked or had anyone approach you with a syringe since our original encounter a few days ago?”

Brian stood staring at her.  For a brief second she thought he would call security but the feeling passed when she remembered how relieved he looked when he saw her standing on the other side of the door, how he said her name. 

“We should talk somewhere else,” He said as he grabbed a few items and headed towards the door.  His voice dropped low when the girls got closer.  “I think someone is listening, possibly watching.” 

Izzy, Megan and Brian continually looked around the hallway as they made their way to the stairs.  No one protested walking down the stairs, none of them wanted to be seen by anyone who might be watching for Brian, or his fans.    They quickly made their way down the stairs and soon were exiting into the dim sunlight of the alley behind the hotel.   All three thought they had made a clean escape until a voice startled all of them.

“What are you doing?”

All three turned to see AJ and Nick standing in the alley, smoke billowing between them. 

Megan and Izzy froze, neither one of them knew what to say.  “These girls are friends of Leighanne’s.  They are going to help me talk to her; I have to get her back.”  Brian chimed in, the lie easily slipping off of his tongue.  He couldn’t stand that he lied to his friends so easily.     “Don’t tell anywhere that I’ve left.”  He pleaded with his friends.  “I hope to be back within a couple of hours, she can’t have gone far.”  Lies, he knew that she would be long gone; hiding from the cleaners and any other member of the group of nine she was a part of.

“Sure man, I understand but do you think it’s wise to leave?” Nick asked walking closer to Brian, his hand outstretched.

“I can’t think of any other way to win her back.” Brian sounded so sincere that Izzy’s heart started to hurt, though she wasn’t sure why she’d care.

AJ pulled Nick back and looked towards Brian.  “Go win her back,” He winked at all of them before focusing his attention back on the cigarette in his hand.  The three quickly advanced towards the opening of the alley.

Izzy turned and looked back at the men, after being chased by people she thought were close to her, people she thought cared for her, she couldn’t bring herself to trust anyone.  Both AJ and Nick were watching them walking, their eyes never turning away and was it her imagination or were they closer to the opening of the alley than they were when they first left?

“Our car is over here,” Megan lead the way and it wasn’t long before all three were buckled in and the car was on the road.  “Where are we going?” Megan asked.

Brian looked around as if he was hoping a place they could go would jump into his vision.  “I don’t know, just drive.”

Izzy turned around to look at Brian, her stomach flipped when his eyes turned in her direction.  “We should find a random motel, a place that won’t question us.”   All three knew the kind of motel Izzy was talking about and none of them was really thrilled at the idea but Megan nodded and continued driving. 

Brian smiled at Izzy, he felt somewhat saner now that the girl he’d been seeing in visions was with him.  She was in the car with him, wasn’t she? To test it, he reached out and touched her shoulder.  “I still can’t believe you are real.”

Izzy smiled and rested her hand on his.  “I just hope we can figure out what is going on…” Izzy stopped talking, her eyes focused on something at the back of the car.  “Shit,” she murmured before turning towards the front of again.  “Megan we have company, again.”

“Who are these guys?” Megan cursed under her breath and pushed the accelerator down and turned suddenly down an adjoining street.

“I have an idea,” Izzy muttered.  She watched as the car also turned down the street they were on and continued to follow them.

Brian turned to look at what Izzy had seen behind him.  A dark SUV was behind them, men in dark suits sat in the front two seats.  The men were bulky and Brian had an idea who they were also.  “Pull over, I’ll talk to them, they are just security.  They probably saw us leaving, I’ll talk to them.” 

“Brian they aren’t…” Izzy started to talk but they had reached a red light and Brian had already opened the door and was getting out of the car to go talk to the guys. 

Brian held his hands out, open and smiled at the men in the car.  “Hey guys, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.  I told Nick and AJ I was going with these girls, Leighanne’s friends, to go find her, to win her back.”  The boyish grin on his face pulled at Izzy’s heart as she watched as the other men got out of the SUV and advanced on Brian pulling him towards the car.

She unbuckled and was out of the car faster than she thought possible.  The third man in the SUV approached and tried to pull her towards the car.   She grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted it behind him.  Her would be attacker fell to the ground in pain, unable to move, she could feel the shoulder dislocate as she brought her knee up connecting with his face.  Blood covered the knee of her pants as she released the man’s arm.  He crouched low trying to protect the rest of his face but something inside Izzy took over and she watched as she put her hands on either side of the man’s head twisting his neck until it snapped.  The man fell to the ground, lifeless. 

She moved quickly over to where Brian was still fighting to stay out of the SUV.  She grabbed one of them men off of Brian and slammed him into the SUV. He pushed her off of him and she fell to the ground. She rolled to her side barely missing the man’s foot coming down on her abdomen.  She threw her feet in the air and jumped back to her feet blocking the next punch that was thrown in her direction. 

She managed to slam her foot down on the man’s foot, her elbow colliding with his chin forcing his head backwards.  She turned and with her back to him she slammed her elbow as hard as she could into his stomach.  

Brian was held around his neck by the last of the attackers.  Izzy seemed to take out the first one quickly and was currently working on the second while he felt trapped and helpless.  He felt his lungs burning for oxygen and felt at any moment he was going to pass out.  He closed his eyes and hoped that it would never get back to the guys what he was about to do, they would never let him live it down. 

Brian opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into the hand that was closest to his face.  He spat out the blood as he fell to his knees gasping for air.  The man he’d bit was holding his hand and cursing Brian out, it wasn’t long before Brian felt the man kick him as he tried to get his wind back. 

Brian grabbed at his stomach and curled into a ball protecting his face and abdomen, it was what you did in a bear attack, and it couldn’t hurt when being attacked by a strange man either, right?  

He breathed steadily as he felt each kick.  Before he knew what he was doing, Brian reached out and grabbed the man’s foot lifting it high enough that the other man lost his balance and fell to the ground. Wasting no time, Brian climbed on top of the man and started to pummel the man.  He ignored the pain in his knuckles and the tears in his eyes and concentrated on making sure that this man could not attack him again.

“Brian,” Izzy placed her hand gently on the man’s shoulder and was startled to see the tears streaming down his face.    She knelt next to him and grabbed hold of his hands helping him stand. 

Brian looked down at the man he’d been hitting.  His face was bloody, his eyes swollen.  He was still alive but he did not seem to be awake.  Brian moved to wipe his eyes but gasped when he saw the amount of blood on his hands.   He sighed and used his shirt to wipe his eyes.

Izzy moved closer to the man Brian had left unconscious, reaching down she grabbed hold of his neck and snapped it quickly letting his body fall back to the ground. 

“What? Why did you do that?” Brian asked.  “You just killed him.”

“I killed all three of them.” Izzy said indifferently.  She looked around, thankful that no one seemed to be around, not that it mattered anyhow.  Somehow Izzy knew that if anyone had seen what had happened they wouldn’t remember later.  

“They were people, you killed them.” Brian was still aghast that he was willingly walking back to the car with this woman who had just killed three people and left their bodies spread on the ground for the birds to peck at.   Brian crossed himself as he continued to the car, he still had questions he felt she could answer; he just hoped that she didn’t turn on him and kill him too.

“I don’t know why I know but, it was them or us,” Izzy added with a sigh.  She stopped and grabbed his shoulders.   “You understand that right?”

Brian thought for a moment before nodding his head.  He had understood from the moment they started pulling him towards the car that if they did not die he would. 

They both got back in the car; Megan was still sitting in the driver’s seat.  Her knuckles white from holding the steering wheel. 

She took the car out of park and started towards their destination, a place to talk.  

“You handled yourself well out there.  I didn’t know pop stars knew how to fight,” Izzy was smiling at her joke at Brian.

Brian smiled half-heartedly at her comment.  “I don’t know where that came from.”  He said.

“Me either,” Izzy replied and turned back to face the front of the car dropping her head on the headrest and closing her eyes.   In a matter of minutes she had become a killer and it had felt natural.  She was scared of herself.